Just Close Your Eyes
by Lothlorien Aeterna
Summary: "Thank you for saving me." He whispered. "You know I always will." Tag to episode 3x08, Ball of Fire. Jane and Lisbon friendship fic. Enjoy!


**Disclaimer:** Nope. Not mine. Title comes from Taylor Swift's song, Safe & Sound. I love it!

**Author's note: **Hi again! I found out that I really love writing. Who knew?

Anyway, this is dedicated to Country2776 , who actually gave me the prompt. I would also like to thank all of the wonderful people who reviewed my first fic, _My Side of the Story_**.** If you haven't read that one yet, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Enjoy :)

**Just Close Your Eyes**

_Just close your eyes_

_The sun is going down_

_You'll be alright_

_No one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light_

_You and I'll be safe and sound_

"_You're looking a little creaky." Lisbon walked up to the couch and sat down next to a comfortable, yet exhausted looking Jane._

"_Yeah. A cattle prod will do that to you."_

"_Huh, the doctor says there's no lasting effects." Smirk. _

_Jane, amused, quickly retorted. "Well, that doctor should try it himself sometime."_

"_Ah." Lisbon couldn't help herself, she smiled. It was a terribly big smile, too. She just felt so relieved at having her consultant back, snark and all. _

"_Well that was a big smile."_

_Lisbon looked a bit uncomfortable, like she always did whenever anyone noticed she cared._

"…_Of course, I'm glad you're back. But I'm also glad we finally solved one without you."_

"_You were kidnapped and delivered to me. That counts as solving one?" he asked incredulously. _

"_Hightower and the team found us."_

"_But if I hadn't held off Rachel, they would have found us dead in a burned down house."_

_She looked insulted. "Oh! You held off Rachel?" _

"_Uh…yeaah…" _

"_Where's my apple?"_

"_Your what?"_

"_My apple! I asked you to get me an apple!"_

"_I come through the valley of death and all you can think about is your stomach. A piece of fruit." It was an instinct at this point, to resume their usual banter and find a way to prolong the conversation._

"_That's right."_

"_An apple."_

"_Yes."_

"_That's just plain selfish."_

"_Selfish?"_

"_Yes it is –"_

"_Me, selfish?"_

"_You're on my couch. I'm trying to have a cup of tea. Have you finished? You call me creaky, I've been cattle prodded all week, I just want to have a rest and a cup of tea and a little sleep." All lies, of course. He couldn't think of any better way to celebrate his safe return than to share a delicious cup of tea in her company. But it's not as if he could tell her that._

_Amused and more than a little irritated, Lisbon smiled again._

"_I wish I had a cattle prod."_

* * *

A couple of minutes later, once everyone else had left for the night, Lisbon found herself back in her office, hunched over various files and sipping some much-needed coffee. She looked around for Jane, who had disappeared quickly after finishing his cup of tea, presumably in search of the vending machine. He wouldn't have left for the night without saying goodbye to her first, she knew. He never did.

She was so distracted while trying to finish her paperwork as fast as possible that she didn't notice the stealthy intruder. He had walked into her office, unsurprisingly, without knocking.

"Still here, I see." Jane said quite loudly, hoping to startle her.

He succeeded. Lisbon jumped and looked up at his grinning face, exasperated.

"God, Jane! Why do you always have to do that?"

"It amuses me, my dear. And, frankly, I think you should be quite used to it by now."

"Ha-ha, very funny. Maybe I just choose to believe that you will grow up someday and quit scaring me every chance you get. It's getting old, you know."

"Obviously it isn't, Lisbon, or you would not have reacted so strongly."

She glared.

Jane's smile got even bigger. "And why so grumpy?"

Lisbon tensed, scowled. "Because."

"Oh, yes. _Such_ a good reason. That definitely clears it up."

His expression was full of mirth, but she could see that some worry had started to creep in. And she couldn't have that; she couldn't let him figure out the reason for her discomfort.

She quickly started turning off her computer and getting her briefcase, all the while aware that she wouldn't be able to leave if he had figured out something was wrong.

Lisbon didn't even manage to move completely around her desk before he caught her wrist gently but firmly, urging her to look into his concerned eyes. She didn't budge.

"Lisbon. Lisbon, what's wrong?"

She sighed. "Jane…"

"No. You know you can't lie to me, so don't even try. I can tell something is bothering you."

She finally looked up at him, but didn't say anything.

"Come on, are you going to make me guess? Fine, then." He looked intently into her eyes and did not let go of her wrist, no doubt to check her pulse once she answered his question. She was translucent, yes, but a little help wouldn't hurt. "Is it because…I didn't get you an apple?"

He wasn't being serious, obviously, but Lisbon smiled softly and silently thanked him for the attempt to relieve the tension.

"Okay, guess not. Hmm…are you still mad that I had to smear that blood on you and now you smell because of it?"

She had glanced down at the floor in preparation for his next question but looked up, shocked, after he said that. She smelled bad? With her mouth hanging open, Lisbon reached back, supposedly searching for something to throw at his grinning face. _Idiot_.

He quickly caught on to her train of thought and put his hands up, looking apologetic.

"I'm just joking, I'm just joking. You smell particularly good today."

At her blush, he decided to get on with it. After all, Jane had a fairly good idea why she was upset already. He prided himself on his infallible ability to read dear Lisbon, after all.

"Okay, okay. Are you upset because it took you longer than you expected to find me? That I was almost killed and you weren't there to stop it?"

At his words, Lisbon tensed once more and Jane knew he had almost gotten to her. Just a little further….

"Is it that it took someone else's help for you and the team to figure out who had taken me? Because if that's it, I really don't blame you. The piles of files you must have had to go through…" He stopped talking because she had looked down once again, and he knew.

"…Lisbon? Who _did _you get Rachel's name from?"

"Well, he didn't give us her name, exactly. Just a couple of letters she had written…"

Jane was getting nervous. Why would Lisbon hide something like that? The only reason he could think of was that she was worried about his reaction. Well, that just wouldn't do.

"Lisbon. _Who_ gave you the letters?"

She exhaled and he knew he'd won. "Linus Wagner gave me the letters, Jane. Now will you please let me go home? I'm tired and I- "

"Wagner? What? Why would he…wait a second. That's not all of it. _Why_ would Linus Wagner ever want to help me? What does he want?"

Lisbon looked down again and shifted her feet. "Um…he might have said something about clemency…"

Jane couldn't believe his ears. "Clemency? That murderous psychopath has the nerve to ask for _clemency_?" He laughed. "Why, Lisbon, whatever did you say to _that_ ridiculous demand? I wish I'd been there to see your face…" He trailed off once he finally looked at her horrified expression.

"Lisbon? You didn't…._you did_. You accepted his ludicrous deal! He doesn't deserve clemency! He killed two people, Lisbon! _Two people_. He deserves to die, just like Red John and the rest of them!"

That did it. She couldn't take it anymore, she exploded.

"Well, what was I supposed to do, _Jane_?" Lisbon shouted. "You were gone, and I had no idea where you were or _who_ had taken you! It could have been Red John, for God's sake! Did you really expect me to just ignore Wagner's claim that he knew the identity of your kidnapper? I had no choice!"

"Of course you had a choice!" He raised his voice to match hers. "You could have chosen _not_ to spare the life of a murderer!"

Lisbon had tears in her eyes now, she was so angry.

"Well, yes, of course I could've! And I might as well have signed your death certificate right then too! Just because your life doesn't matter to you, Jane, that doesn't mean that others don't care about you. God only knows why, but we do care. _I _care. And I couldn't afford to jeopardize your life, not for that. Not for anything."

Now it was Jane's turn to look at the floor. He was still angry, but he understood. Of course he did.

"Patrick. Please look at me."

He did, and Lisbon was astounded to see tears in his eyes as well. It wasn't often that Patrick Jane lowered his many walls, and she was humbled that when it happened, it always seemed to be in her presence.

"You are my best friend, my partner. I did what I had to do." She smiled softly. "And besides, we both know you would've done the same thing."

"It's not the same."

"Yes it is, and you know it."

He looked about to argue further, but Lisbon wasn't having any more of his "my life is worthless" talk. She moved forward and gently touched his upper arm. Jane did not shy away, to her surprise, so she completed the movement by loosely wrapping her arms around him. He reciprocated the action and placed his chin on top of her head, closing his eyes.

"Thank you for saving me." He whispered.

"You know I always will."

**Author's Note**: Hope you enjoyed this one! I really enjoyed writing it, at least.

Country2776 : I know you asked for a rather….shippy ending, but I didn't really think it fit here. Especially not at this point in the show. Hope you liked it anyway :)

It would mean a lot if you left a comment! See you all next time!

Oh, by the way: I do love to write, but I'm not exactly what you'd call "creative". Haha. So, if any of you have any ideas or prompts, I would love to hear what they are! I don't promise that I'll write anything you ask for, but I would certainly consider them.


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